Category:Business Process Models

A Process is a group of logically related events, e.g. the Investigation process contains events such as Incident, Cite & Release, Arrest (besides many others). There are two processes associated with an information exchange, a Prevailing Process (for the Triggering Event), and a Subsequent Process (associated with the Subsequent Event). Processes have the following characteristics:

They extend over time.

They begin and end with an event.

They may contain multiple events.

They may exist concurrently with other processes, i.e., a subject may be detained while being tried. Exchanges in both the Detention and Prosecution processes may occur at the same time.

They may exist consecutively with other processes, i.e., the Prosecution process ends where the Adjudication begins.

The Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard, governed by the Object Management Group provides the capability of understanding internal business procedures in a graphical notation and gives organizations the ability to communicate these procedures in a standard manner. Furthermore, the graphical notation will facilitate the understanding of the performance collaborations and business transactions between the organizations. This will ensure that businesses will understand themselves and participants in their business and will enable organizations to adjust to new internal and business circumstances.

A Business Process Diagram (BPD) is made up of a set of graphical elements. These elements enable the easy development of simple diagrams that will look familiar to most business analysts (e.g., a flowchart diagram). The elements were chosen to be distinguishable from each other and to utilize shapes that are familiar to most modelers. For example, activities are rectangles and decisions are diamonds. It should be emphasized that one of the drivers for the development of BPMN is to create a simple mechanism for creating business process models, while at the same time being able to handle the complexity inherent to business processes.

The Introduction to BPMN and [BPMN 2.0 By Example] papers provide a high-level introduction to the Business Process and more specific instruction on Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) for BPMN 1.0 & 2.0. The basics of the BPMN notation are described, the types of graphical objects that comprise the notation and how they work together as part of a Business Process Diagram. Also discussed is the different uses of BPMN, including how levels of precision affect what a modeler will include in a diagram.